Your phone is ringing. Expectantly, your eyes flit to your pocket as you quickly pull it out to see who’s calling. Almost disbelieving, you find that it’s the hiring manager. It’s been weeks since you sent over your CV, and now they’re interested in hiring you!
After hanging up with them, you feverishly walk to your couch to sit down and process what just happened. You thought your chances were slim to none, but there you are – squarely in the crux of a reality, you’d almost never thought possible.
Suddenly though, you notice that the euphoria of scheduling a job interview is waning. You realize that another feeling is surfacing to supplant your short-lived joy, and it’s icky.
The buzz inside is signaling one thing, which you dread: fear.
We all go through that nasty, electrifying feeling that leaves us feeling giddy in the days leading up to a job interview (never mind an engineering job interview). Don’t worry though. I have just the thing to quell your fears and squash your doubts. It is called information. Pull out your pen and paper and start taking notes, my friend. You’ll need ‘em.
Engineering interview questions… no different than any interview?
As with any interview, you’ll need to go in with a front-of-mind strategy to account for any curveballs the interviewer might feel inclined to throw your way. After all, a strategy is there to turn almost any question into this cut-and-dried thing – a question that otherwise would have been the start of a very draining and very demoralizing process.
Note: Want to know the 3 common interview types, and how to prepare for them? Click here!
That said, your first step, as always, is to go deep into research. Leave no stone unturned; the hiring manager, the company, the job itself, etc. should all be part of your scope. Take the painstaking route. Review the required skills and experience list. If you find any repeated mentions, that’s a sign that that capability or qualification is important. Take note of any details about the company that might be shared in the job posting. Anything suggestive of the organization’s culture fits the bill, generally speaking.
Once you’ve taken note of everything, including the company’s products and services plus its mission and values (you can find all of those on their website and social media profiles)...
It’s time to apply what you learned. Here’s how.
Relax. It’s just an interview
As I’ve hinted at before, and despite the raw introduction, there’s not that big of a difference between an engineering job interview and other types of interviews. For example, you’ll always encounter general interview questions at the beginning – no matter what job you’re applying to. Expect typical interview questions like:
So on and so forth. As a rule of thumb, expect these “classics” to appear at any time – there’s always a good chance they might crop up. Afterward, you’ll get into job-specific questions which are, as their name suggests, solely dependent on the job you’re applying to. (In other words, do your pre-interview homework!)
The engineering interview questions trifecta
All right, time to delve into some long-overdue specifics. First things first, keep in mind that engineering is a very broad industry; as far as college majors go, there are more than a dozen that can relate to engineering, and even so, each can have a handful of specialty engineering jobs within their respective categories.
This is important for a very simple reason: not all engineering questions apply to each category (e.g. you wouldn’t ask an electrical engineer about construction, just as you wouldn’t ask a civil engineer about electrical motors, even though both are engineers.)
Therefore, the following questions apply to options the largest number of engineering candidates may encounter. Now, let’s get to the meaty part.
Here is where you want to give real, concrete examples from your career. Ideally, you will cite a project that reflects the value – i.e. the work – you’d do if you were to get hired. This allows you to be seen in a very attractive light, professionally speaking.
And don’t forget to mention the reason you consider it challenging. If you do, you will have probably missed the whole point of this question!
As an engineer, one single mistake could potentially do a lot of damage. Hiring managers, naturally, want to know how deliberate you are with keeping your work error-free.
When answering this question, outline any and all checks you use to review your work for accuracy.
Like most things in life, engineering is an industry that ever sprouts new processes, disciplines, practices, and the like. Hiring managers will want to make sure you’re keeping up with the trend, which you should be.
22 More Engineering Interview Questions
Because I’m lazy, I’ve listed the remaining 22 questions below sans my own commentary (you’ll have to start doing some thinking, I’m afraid. Sorry, Bucko!).
Before I let you go though, you might want to check out this section of our blog for more cool info on interviews like what to wear, what to never say, etc. I trust you’ll find it useful in your interview-oriented (and possibly engineering-related) career endeavors. Toodaloo!
